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Don't Despair

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Anonymous

Guest
Conservatives, don't despair

By David Frum, CNN Contributor
updated 7:10 AM EST, Mon November 12, 2012


Editor's note: David Frum, a CNN contributor, is a contributing editor at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He is the author of eight books, including a new novel "Patriots" and his post-election e-book, "Why Romney Lost." Frum was a special assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002.


Washington (CNN) -- The mood among American conservatives is now one of apocalyptic despair.

Having convinced themselves that this election arrayed freedom against tyranny, they now must wonder: Did their country just democratically vote in favor of tyranny?

On Fox News election night, BIll O'Reilly explained the meaning of the election: the "white establishment" was now outnumbered by minorities. "The demographic are changing. It's not a traditional America anymore." And these untraditional Americans "want stuff. They want things. And who is going to give them things? President Obama. He knows it, and he ran on it."



O'Reilly's analysis is echoed across the conservative blogosphere. The (non-white) takers now outnumber the (white) makers. They will use their majority to pillage the makers and redistribute to the takers. In the process, they will destroy the sources of the country's wealth and end the American experiment forever.

You'll hear O'Reilly's view echoed wherever conservatives express themselves.

Happily, the view is wrong, and in every respect.

America is not a society divided between "makers" and "takers." Instead, almost all of us proceed through a life cycle where we sometimes make and sometimes take as we pass from schooling to employment to retirement.

The line between "making" and "taking" is not a racial line. The biggest government program we have, Medicare, benefits a population that is 85% white.

President Barack Obama was not re-elected by people who want to "take." The president was re-elected by people who want to work -- and who were convinced, rightly or wrongly, that the president's policies were more likely to create work than were the policies advocated by my party.

The United States did not vote for socialism. It could not do so, because neither party offers socialism. Both parties champion a free enterprise economy cushioned by a certain amount of social insurance. The Democrats (mostly) want more social insurance, the Republicans want less. National politics is a contest to move the line of scrimmage, in a game where there's no such thing as a forward pass, only a straight charge ahead at the defensive line. To gain three yards is a big play.


Obama's second term agenda Whatever you think of the Obama record, it's worth keeping in mind that by any measure, free enterprise has been winning the game for a long, long time to this point.

Compare the United States of 2012 to the United States of 1962. Leave aside the obvious points about segregation and discrimination, and look only at the economy.

In 1962, the government regulated the price and route of every airplane, every freight train, every truck and every merchant ship in the United States. The government regulated the price of natural gas. It regulated the interest on every checking account and the commission on every purchase or sale of stock. Owning a gold bar was a serious crime that could be prosecuted under the Trading with the Enemy Act. The top rate of income tax was 91%.

It was illegal to own a telephone. Phones had to be rented from the giant government-regulated monopoly that controlled all telecommunications in the United States. All young men were subject to the military draft and could escape only if they entered a government-approved graduate course of study. The great concern of students of American society -- of liberals such as David Riesman, of conservatives such as Russell Kirk, and of radicals such as Dwight Macdonald -- was the country's stultifying, crushing conformity.

Even if you look only at the experiences of white heterosexual men, the United States of 2012 is a freer country in almost every way than the United States of 1962.


Obama has changes in mind that conservatives and Republicans will oppose. He will want to raise taxes, he will want to sustain social spending at a permanently higher level, he has in mind new regulations over health care, energy production and banking. He'll win some, he'll lose some. To the extent that his wins prove injurious, future Republican Congresses and administrations will struggle to undo them. That's politics: a contest that never ends, and in which the only certainty is the certainty of constant change.

The Republican challenge next is to reassemble a new coalition for limited government and private enterprise. That coalition must include Americans of all ethnicities. To assume from the start that only certain ethnicities will contribute, and that others aspire only to grab, is not only ugly prejudice; it is also self-destructive delusion.

People of all backgrounds want to create, save and contribute to society. A party of the center-right should make them all feel at home, regardless of how they pronounce their last name, the complexion of their skin or the way in which they express love and build family.

The Roman Catholic Church deems despair a mortal sin. To abandon hope is to reject the reality of goodness and to forswear future action. The United States is a great and good country, and it remains great and good even when we do not get all our own way politically. The United States is a tolerant and free country, which means that there are no "tipping points" beyond which it becomes impossible to correct mistakes.

Fifty years ago, Marxism was still a live intellectual force in British universities. Marxists taught that human society must inevitably evolve into a socialist dictatorship of the proletariat. The great British conservative historian Hugh Trevor-Roper scoffed at this arrogance. He said, "When radicals scream that victory is indubitably theirs, sensible conservatives knock them on the nose. It is only very feeble conservatives who take such words as true and run round crying for the last sacraments."

We need more sensible conservatives. As for the feeble conservatives, they should take a couple of aspirin and then stay quietly indoors until the temper has subsided and they are ready to say and do something useful again.
 

Mike

Well-known member
This undoubtedly the stupidest article ever written.

When this author wrote this: "The biggest government program we have, Medicare, benefits a population that is 85% white." Just exactly what was he thinking?


Medicare is funded by the Social Security Administration. Which means it's funded by taxpayers: We all pay 1.45% of our earnings into FICA - Federal Insurance Contributions Act, if you're into deciphering acronyms - which go toward Medicare. Employers pay another 1.45%, bringing the total to 2.9%. (If you're self-employed, you must cough up the entire 2.9%.) The Medicare deduction on your paycheck might say FICA-HI. The HI refers to Health Insurance, and it's your premium cost for all Medicare coverage.
 

ranch hand

Well-known member
Social security is the same, it does not cost the public. You pay into it your whole WORKING life and usually don't live long enough to get your money back. Any left over should go to your estate.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Mike said:
This undoubtedly the stupidest article ever written.

When this author wrote this: "The biggest government program we have, Medicare, benefits a population that is 85% white." Just exactly what was he thinking?


Medicare is funded by the Social Security Administration. Which means it's funded by taxpayers: We all pay 1.45% of our earnings into FICA - Federal Insurance Contributions Act, if you're into deciphering acronyms - which go toward Medicare. Employers pay another 1.45%, bringing the total to 2.9%. (If you're self-employed, you must cough up the entire 2.9%.) The Medicare deduction on your paycheck might say FICA-HI. The HI refers to Health Insurance, and it's your premium cost for all Medicare coverage.

Funded by taxpayers--which means its a government program...
What government programs are not funded by taxpayers in one way or another?
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
OT which are you or are you even "conservative"??
"When radicals scream that victory is indubitably theirs, sensible conservatives knock them on the nose. It is only very feeble conservatives who take such words as true and run round crying for the last sacraments."
 

Larrry

Well-known member
Look at it this way, ot thinks men should shut up when it comes to abortion. So using that precedence he needs to shut up about Rep politics.
 

Larrry

Well-known member
have you noticed since the election and the leftwingernuts. They should be happy. But no they are still out pizzin and moanin. What their problem is that they now have a prez that will not live up to his promises again this term. How are they going to defend him. I know they will attack conservatives instead of holding their annoited one accountable.

It's on their shoulders and they know they can't deliver.
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
The CNN fellow that wrote that sure showed what he thinks of Conservatives.
I was offended by that article. He assumes a lot that isn't true.

He thinks he knows how Conservatives think and he's not very good at it.
 

hopalong

Well-known member
Faster horses said:
The CNN fellow that wrote that sure showed what he thinks of Conservatives.
I was offended by that article. He assumes a lot that isn't true.

He thinks he knows how Conservatives think and he's not very good at it.

Just like oldtimer :D :D :D
 

Larrry

Well-known member
Liberalism is good at that. They can't win an argument with conservative ideas. So what they do is redefine conservative so someone they aren't so they can win in their eyes.

In reality they are FOOLS
 

Mike

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Mike said:
This undoubtedly the stupidest article ever written.

When this author wrote this: "The biggest government program we have, Medicare, benefits a population that is 85% white." Just exactly what was he thinking?


Medicare is funded by the Social Security Administration. Which means it's funded by taxpayers: We all pay 1.45% of our earnings into FICA - Federal Insurance Contributions Act, if you're into deciphering acronyms - which go toward Medicare. Employers pay another 1.45%, bringing the total to 2.9%. (If you're self-employed, you must cough up the entire 2.9%.) The Medicare deduction on your paycheck might say FICA-HI. The HI refers to Health Insurance, and it's your premium cost for all Medicare coverage.

Funded by taxpayers--which means its a government program...
What government programs are not funded by taxpayers in one way or another?

Hey Einstein, if you'll go back and read the article you posted, the author was making a case that the "make" & "take" argument was not relevant because whites' benefit from Medicare too.
The line between "making" and "taking" is not a racial line. The biggest government program we have, Medicare, benefits a population that is 85% white.

But the fact is that "Whites" are paying a disproportionate amount into Medicare (same as with income taxes) because Blacks get the same advantages & benefits but pay less into it because their pay scale is significantly less.

Again, the "Makers"are paying for the "Takers". It's another racial redistribution of sorts.

As of 2010, black men in America earned 74.5 percent of a typical white man’s wage; black women earned 69.6 percent.
 

gmacbeef

Well-known member
Mike said:
This undoubtedly the stupidest article ever written.

When this author wrote this: "The biggest government program we have, Medicare, benefits a population that is 85% white." Just exactly what was he thinking?


Medicare is funded by the Social Security Administration. Which means it's funded by taxpayers: We all pay 1.45% of our earnings into FICA - Federal Insurance Contributions Act, if you're into deciphering acronyms - which go toward Medicare. Employers pay another 1.45%, bringing the total to 2.9%. (If you're self-employed, you must cough up the entire 2.9%.) The Medicare deduction on your paycheck might say FICA-HI. The HI refers to Health Insurance, and it's your premium cost for all Medicare coverage.

You can see that this writer is an IDIOT, right off the bat,because Whites do not make up 85% of the population. It is closer to 70%. There are CLEARLY Makers & Takers. many makers that work hard all their lives don't live long enough to even get back what they pay in. While many others NEVER work & take ALL THEIR LIVES !! 47 million on FOOD STAMPS ,Welfare spending up 32 % , & Check this out


A record 5.4 million workers and their dependents have signed up to collect federal disability checks since President Obama took office, according to the latest official government data, as discouraged workers increasingly give up looking for jobs and take advantage of the federal program.

This is straining already-stretched government finances while posing a long-term economic threat by creating an ever-growing pool of permanently dependent working-age Americans.

Since the recession ended in June 2009, the number of new enrollees to Social Security's disability insurance program is twice the job growth figure. (See nearby chart.) In just the first four months of this year, 539,000 joined the disability rolls and more than 725,000 put in applications.

As a result, by April there were a total of 10.8 million people on disability, according to Social Security Administration data released this week. Even after accounting for all those who've left the program — about 700,000 drop out each year, mainly because they hit retirement age or died — that's up 53% from a decade ago.

Read More At IBD: http://news.investors.com/business/042012-608418-ssdi-disability-rolls-skyrocket-under-obama.htm#ixzz2C3uTbJYa
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Don't you guys know who David Frum is? He's one of those "establishment Republicans" that OT loves to hate. :lol: He used to work for Bush.

OT weould call him a "Neo-Con", or "rightwing extremist". He's part of thee "Republican Cult" :lol:

OT has just proved his own opinions of "republican cultists" incorrect. :D


Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,[1] Frum is the son of the late Barbara Frum, a well-known journalist and broadcaster, and Murray Frum, a dentist, who later became a real estate developer, philanthropist, and art collector. Frum's sister, Linda Frum, is a member of the Senate of Canada. Frum is married to the writer Danielle Crittenden, the stepdaughter of former Toronto Sun editor Peter Worthington. The couple has three children.[5] He is a distant cousin of economist Paul Krugman.[6]


I'm a conservative Republican, have been all my adult life. I volunteered for the Reagan campaign in 1980. I've attended every Republican convention since 1988. I was president of the Federalist Society chapter at my law school, worked on the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal and wrote speeches for President Bush—not the "Read My Lips" Bush, the "Axis of Evil" Bush. I served on the Giuliani campaign in 2008 and voted for John McCain in November. I supported the Iraq War and (although I feel kind of silly about it in retrospect) the impeachment of Bill Clinton. I could go on, but you get the idea.[28]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Frum
 
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